Noah Feldman, Columnist

Violence in the Name of the Messiah

Israel is challenged by a theology that sanctions revenge against Palestinians.

November 1, 2015 at 4:00 PM UTC

Noah Feldman is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. A professor of law at Harvard University, he is author, most recently, of “To Be a Jew Today: A New Guide to God, Israel, and the Jewish People."

Funeral for 18-month-old Ali Dawabsheh.
Photographer: Oren Ziv

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In July, a house in the Palestinian village of Duma was firebombed. A family of four was inside: Saad Dawabsheh, his wife and two children, ages 4 and 18 months. Only the 4-year-old survived.

The leading suspects for the attack are Jewish, part of a loose network known in Israel as “hilltop youth,” teenagers who grew up in small and often unsanctioned settlements in the West Bank, especially in the region they call Samaria. They perform what are called “price-tag” operations -- violent acts meant to send the message that any attempt to remove Jewish settlers from their land will carry a “price.”